Container



y 1969 D. G. HILLS 3,443,710

CONTAINER Fileq Sept. 13, 1967 Sheet of2 FIG I 34 52 H61 17 mm.

in. III

INVENTOR. DAVID G. HILLS AGENT D. G. HILLS CONTAINER May 13, 1969 Sheet Filed Sept. 13, 1967 INVENIOR. DAVID G. HILLS United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 215-1 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A container having a central gripping opening Within the upper portion of the body.

This invention relates to hollow articles, and more particularly to a molded container.

As is well known, there are now in existence bottles and jugs with handle projections extending outwardly of the body for use in gripping the container when carrying, or dispensing its liquid contents. In the past, these known gripping projections have all been offset from the container body axis, so that spillage would often occur because of tilting if a substantially full, and uncapped container were hand carried to any great extent during use by the purchaser. This is especially annoying and often hazardous when, for example, household detergents and bleaches are packaged in such containers. Also, gripping of these containers is confined to a single side of area of the bottle, which may be inconvenient and may even tend to be inadequate in the case of the more recently developed large, economy size household containers.

The gripping structure is generally separately formed as an extension of, or independently attached to the container body, and in such cases cannot be used to provide any effective container capacity, thereby uneconomically increasing the quantity of material in the finished con tainer by the amount required for the gripping structure.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new container which avoids the prior art deficiencies discussed above.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a new container which may be conveniently and securely gripped from a plurality of sides.

It is yet an additional object of the present invention to provide a relatively large container which may be securely gripped and readily carried by ones side in an upright position.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a molded plastic container having a multiple finger, or hand gripping opening centrally located within the periphery of the container body.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a blow molded thermoplastic bottle having a central hand hole within the body contour, with the body structure surrounding the hand hole serving as a handle and a useful storage portion of the container.

Other objectives of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereafter.

These and other objects are accomplished by providing a new container comprising an elongated body having a lower portion and an upper portion, the upper portion having Wall sections defining a gripping hole centrally located therein, and a discharge outlet above the gripping hole.

In describing the overall invention, reference will be made to preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a front elevational view of a container constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the container of FIG. I.

FIG. III is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IHIII of FIG. I.

FIG. IV is a partial schematic elevational view of the top portion of a container body showing an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. V is a view similar to FIG. IV of another embodiment of the present invention.

With reference to the drawings wherein identical numerals refer to identical parts, there is shown in FIGS. I-III a container constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, which may, in this case, be identified as blow molded thermoplastic bottle 10. Bottle 10 has an elongated hollow body 12 of generally rectangular or oblong cross section as shown in FIG. III, comprising a lower portion 14, and an integral upper portion or extension 16. Narrow neck outlet 32 at the upper end of bottle 10 extends outwardly from extension 16. Lower body portion 14 comprises base or bottom wall 17, a pair of short opposing sides 18a and 18b, and a pair of longer opposing sides 20a and 20b. Each pair of sides extends upwardly and converges or tapers slightly inwardly from the periphery of base 17 of lower body portion 14. Portions of the upper ends 22a and 22b of long opposing sides 20a and 20b meet at 24 to close off a section of the lower body 14 from the integral upper body extension to be hereinafter described.

Upper portion 16 of elongated body 12 is integral with lower portion 14 and comprises a pair of hollow handles 28a and 28b, or pillars in the case of FIGS. I-III, extending upwardly of the open area 29a and 29b of lower portion 14, and hollow horizontal top section 30 in communication with, and opening into each of handles 28a and 28b at either of its ends. Hollow sections 28 and 30 form part of the container body and serve as a storage portion of the container as well as flow passages for dispensing the contents. Thus, as seen in FIG. I adjoining portions of the outer surfaces of handles 28a and 28b, and horizontal top section 30 define the periphery of a generally rectangular multiple finger or hand gripping openmg 36 centrally and symmetrically positioned with respect to the horizontal and vertical center lines of the body cross section, and within the contour of the upper portion of elongated container body 12. Upper extension 16 as can be seen in FIG. I continues to taper slightly in wardly along its axis toward the outlet. Narrow neck outlet 32 extends vertically out from the outer surface of hollow top section 30. Any type of typical conventional closure 34 may be inserted within, or screwed or snapped onto narrow neck outlet 32 to confine the contents within the container.

As can be seen from the schematic view of a users hand in FIG. I, the axial length of hollow handles 28:: and 28b is sufiicient to permit secure gripping by at least three fingers. Also apparent from the structure of FIG. I, and as a special feature of the present invention, bottle 10 may be gripped around hollow top section 30 as well as side handles 28a and 2812. Such a provision permits secure carrying of the container above its center of gravity when full, in a fully upright position by ones side. The periphery 39 of the finger or hand hole 36 in upper portion 16 is generally continuous as shown in FIG. I, but may be partially or completely peripherally indented or grooved as shown typically at 41 in FIG. IV to accommodate the fingers of a user so as to provide for especially tight gripping useful, for example, in the construction of large size containers.

Long sides 20a and 20b of lower portion 14 of body 12 may have partially depressed or indented portions 43 on which may be protectively mounted the identifying label of the container. These depressed portions in combination with the outward extensions of the side walls provide a somewhat protected area for the container label which is especially significant in minimizing scufling or ripping during bulk shipment by a merchant.

In FIG. IV there is schematically shown a alternate embodiment of the present invention, in that the hand or finger gripping opening comprises two adjacent portions 38a and 38b in the upper extension 40 of the bottle body, separated by post 42. Such construction is especially useful when carrying or using unusually large containers in that the body may be tightly gripped by both hands.

In FIG. V is shown another alternate design of the gripping opening 44 which comprises an oval cross-section, in contrast to the more rectangular configuration of FIG. I.

The above description and particularly the drawings are set forth for purposes of illustration only and are not to be taken in a limited sense.

The container of the present invention may be of any geometrical configuration as long as there is a finger gripping opening centrally located within, and in the upper portion of the body of the container. Otherwise the container may be round, square, hexagonal, etc. and may have any number of sides. An oblong shape slightly axially tapered toward the outlet for ease in dispensing the contents is preferred. The oblong shape provides for optimum storage space utilization and optimum flat labeling surface area.

The size of the container may also vary within wide limits, i.e. the container may be designed to contain anywhere from less than four fluid ounces up to containers for bulk shipment. In general, however, the present invention is usually suited for containers of volumetric capacity ranging from about 8 fluid ounces to 5 gallons or 640 fluid ounces, and more preferably from 12 fluid ounces up to one gallon or 128 fluid ounces.

An indicated above, finger gripping hole broadly refers to any one or more symmetrically positioned openings within the periphery of the upper portion of the container body, which in cooperation with surrounding wall portions of the body facilitate unusually tight grasping of the container from a plurality of sides. The size or total cross sectional area of the symmetrically located opening may vary within wide limits and depends for the most part on the particular size of the container. For optimum gripping for a volumetric container capacity range of from about 8 to 640 fluid ounces, the size of the opening should be such as to permit insertion of at least three fingers of the users hand, and be from about 2.8 to 50 square inches, and preferably 5 to 20 square inches. The opening may be of any shape, for example, oval, square, rectangular, circular, etc., with the shape, in general, usually chosen to blend in with the overall contour of the container body.

The outer perimeter of any single handle portion of the container body may also vary widely. However, if this perimeter is excessive or insuflicient, the container may not be securely gripped by the user. In general, this perimeter should be within the range of about 1.5 to 12 inches, and preferably between about 2.3 to 9 inches.

The material of construction can be any material useful in the fabrication of containers, for example plastic, paper, carboard, glass, metal, wood and the like, including any combination of two or more of such materials. Any common method of manufacture may be employed which is most suitable to the particular material being processed. However, considering that most containers for household use are generally of the throw away variety, it is apparent that the cost thereof must he kept at a minimum. It is therefore preferred in the present invention that the container be made of thermoplastic which has the additional advantage of being tough and unbreakable in ordinary applications. In the interest of economy it is preferred to use a container blow molded from a tubular parison, with the container wall having a finished thickness on the order of between 0.005 to inch, a typical wall thickness in a commercial model being at least about 0.01". Polyethylene is a preferred .4 thermoplastic, and especially is low density polyethylene preferred because of its resilient and flexible nature when, for example, the container is a bottle of the squeeze dispensing variety. When the container is used to hold chilled products it may be expected to be maintained at about 0 F. for extended periods. This tends to render some thermoplastics less resilient, and conversely more brittle and susceptible to fracture. Styrene based thermoplastics are preferred in such applications, since this ma terial remains tough and resilient even when thin at these low temperatures.

The present invention has wide application in the container industry. For example, containers such as bottles for common household products such as floor waxes, detergents, bleaches, cleaning compounds, as well as beverages such as milk, juices etc. may now be conveniently grasped by the consumer from a plurality of sides, by a construction which also serves to define part of the effective container capacity. The containers described are simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and are of unusually pleasing appearance.

It will be understood that numerous changes may be made in the design and construction hereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A squeeze bottle capable of being comfortably gripped from at least three sides, said bottle being made of a thermoplastic capable of being blow molded, said bottle comprising an elongated body having:

(a) a lower portion having a base, peripherally continuous sides extending upwardly from the periphery of the base and a top wall section at the upper end of said lower portion;

(b) an upper portion integral with said lower portion having a pair of longitudinally extending, identically shaped 'hollow handles laterally spaced from each other and situated entirely within the confines of the upper portion of said body, each of said handles communicating with the interior of the lower portion, the space between said handles defining a generally rectangular opening extending through said body bounded on two sides by said handles, on a third side by said top wall section of the lower portion of the body and on a fourth side by a third hollow handle extending laterally between said pair of longitudinally extending handles, the size of said opening being adequate to permit simultaneous insertion of at least three fingers side by side there through to facilitate hand gripping of the bottle around any one of said three hollow handles, said opening being symmetrically positioned with respect to the axis of the upper portion of said body;

(c) a narrow neck outlet on the axis of said body extending vertically upwardly from said laterally extending handle, said neck being suflieiently short in length to avoid interference with hand gripping around said laterallly extending handle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,307,390 1/1943 Chew 215-1 2,722,086 11/ 1955 Mullen 215-1 3,171,559 3/1965 Ferree 2151.5 3,195,752 7/1965 Cox 215-1 3,214,052 10/1965 Dike 215-1 3,232,495 1/ 1966 Schneider.

FOREIGN PATENTS 19,323 1913 Great Britain. 1,226,864 2/1960 France.

JAMES B. MARBERT, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

